My Philly Park Blog

Exciting News!

Phase III of the Fairmount Park Trolley Trail is under way!

by Christopher Dougherty on December 18, 2017

For some, winter is a time for hibernation. Not Steve Thomas at Terrafirma trails. Terrafirma began construction of 1100 linear feet of new trail north and south of the Chamounix Trolley Tunnel, recently refurbished by our friends at the Streets Department. A link in the 5 mile Trolley Trail, this section will eliminate the crossing of busy Chamounix Drive while giving hikers and bikers access to a wonderful piece of trolley infrastructure. This work is being generously supported by our partner, the Belmont Plateau Trails Alliance (BPTA) who is using part of their proceeds from Parks on Tap at the Belmont Plateau to help fund this portion of the Trolley Trail work. BPTA truly exemplifies what it is to be a park champion–and we are thankful for this partnership. Check out their slate of upcoming clean-ups, rides, pictures of Steve’s work and other stewardship opportunities here.

Speaking of infrastructure, Steve also unearthed some physical remains of the Fairmount Park Trolley: an ornate cap of one of the power poles with ceramic insulators, seen here. This is great considering there is very little remaining of the system. Historic photo courtesy of Bill Volkmer. Stay tuned for more updates and for our announcement about the 2018 dates for our guided Trolley Trail tours.